Indoor Regionals ---Storm Lake

Friday was a busy day as I prepared to be with NIACC  at the regional track and field meet held at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake. I did get out for some miles before we left so ended up with 7 on the day.  The evening's events didn't start until 8 P.M. so it was a late night.

Saturday's events started at 10:45 A.M. so I got out to explore the campus a bit and find a coffee shop before the competition began.

This little coffee shop was a few blocks from campus but had good coffee!

There are meeting rooms and shops under the central campus.  Entrance at the domed doors beside the road.

Under the central campus.

Most of Iowa lakes are below normal due to drought conditions.

The athletes ran some good times with quite a few near misses for national qualifications.  We did gain the 4 X 800 relay qualifying, however.  Some are close enough to consider carding in if they happen to fall short at the last-chance event at St. Olaf next Friday.

4 miles Saturday then out for 7 today so the week totaled 45 miles

All Gaggled Up

The trails have been pure ice and not conducive to good running.  I should have opted for the Hokas and the roads.

But I've spent the time on the trails in order to get some more time in on the backlog of podcasts.  One neat thing about today's timing was the large number of Canada Geese that were hanging out on the river's ice.

8 miles on Tuesday, 5 miles yesterday and another 5 today.

Perfect Tracking

The amount of overnight snow turned out to be perfect for observing the tracks on the trail.  There's definitely some ice underneath, and quite slick after yesterday's rain, but the snow depth was like nature's eraser...giving the trail a fresh slate.

It was fun to see how many others had been out prior to my run but even more interesting was the wildlife tracks.  Lots of squirrel action but also turkey, fox, raccoon  and on the far-back trails, what was most certainly a coyote.

photo courtesy of Bernie Boettcher

Then nearing the end of the workout, I saw some tell-tail signs of mice...in the form of snow tunnels.

It was a very wicked wind when in the open this afternoon but I was comfortable in most cases because of the protection offered by the woods and bluffs...not so good in the open prairie section though!

9 miles today

Blogoshere

Weather and the indoor track meet took their toll on my ability to get out for any good workouts.  I'm looking forward to better conditions soon because the Hokas are showing promise of some pain relief while running.

Mason Powers just qualified for Nationals in the 5K. I'm joking with Jonny Worley who earlier qualified in the mile. (photo courtesy of Susie Smith)

I'm not only losing some touch on mileage, but also getting quite behind on listening to the podcasts that I try to follow.  Yesterday, I was able to get a good session in (on the trails and while at the computer).  While listening to a podcast it occurred to me that after over a year's worth of weekly recordings (or nearly every week), you begin to know a little about the people you listen to.  I'm even beginning to remember stories and examples used in past episodes.

So not unlike new friends that you meet at a local party or friends you run/bicycle with, you begin to feel like you know the folks through the wonder of the internet.  Sometimes I've interacted through comments on blogs or emails. Then when I happen to be able to meet some of the folks in person like this past summer, I feel like we're friends and we've already met!

Only got 1 mile each day except for 10 miles yesterday.  Puts me at 36 for the week.

Slapstick

Not much change in the weather lately.  At least not enough to improve the trail conditions.  I can tell by the tracks that most of the hikers/runners are slipping fairly often.  It might be fun to be able to just watch some of the slips and falls as I can attest the show might be somewhat comical.

Saw where someone before me bit it.  Left the imprint of a coat on top of the foot slip!

Got news that a photo I submitted in a Facebook promo made the finals...at least a new Atayne technical shirt coming my way and perhaps a new pair of snowshoes, Dion 121's!!!

Got in some easy stuff yesterday and again today for 5 miles each day.

Creatures of Habit vs. Spontaneity

Still fighting poor trail conditions but hit the trail anyway Monday afternoon. The advantage of the light skiff of fresh snow is the ability to see trail activity in the form of tracks. At more than one location, I could see a well-worn game trail crossing the path...headed to the river for water from what I could discern.  

The game trails made me consider how humans become habitual and follow the same trail or pattern of doing daily actions.  I know I most often follow the same route down to the same direction on a loop. 8 miles on these trails today.

So it came as a pleasant surprise when my wife agreed to break a pattern and with some spontaneity, we drove an hour and a half to Cedar Falls yesterday for me to be able to run snowshoes with the Monday Mayhem group from The Runner's Flat.  Led by Scott Gall this workout really taxed me because the area had much more snow than we've had in Mason City and because Scott prides himself for adventurous, off-trail excursions when on snowshoes.  That's what they're for, isn't it?

Great time with the crew and had the opportunity to test out a Mizuno Breath Thermal top provided on loan by the Mizuno rep (Joey...who ran with us). Resulted in around an extra 4 miles for me tonight.

Very pleased to have done something completely out-of-the-ordinary.  Only disappointment was Monday nights are an off night for the Cedar Falls businesses so Cathy didn't get to shop nor did we get to try a new brew at the micro-brew next door to The Runner's Flat!

She's Baaaack!

My son needed to have us dog-sit again, so Piper is back in Mason City.  My short-lived, self-imposed break from training is over!

Got out briefly yesterday and then a good amount on the trail today.

14 miles for the week.